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“Blackbirds” review – Sing Out

June 26, 2015

Gretchen Peters first moved to Nashville in the 1980s. She has written a long string of some of the best songs from there, often dealing with thorny human issues. “Independence Day” about spousal abuse and a monster hit for Martina McBride was a CMA Song of the Year. In October 2014, Gretchen was named to the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. She follows that honor with Blackbirds, a recording that has haunted me from my first listen. It has taken me longer than usual wrestling with trying to write this piece mainly because of how mightily it hit me. Production and performances throughout are gorgeous. Gretchen co-produced here with husband and keyboardist Barry Walsh and guitarist Doug Lancio.

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More From Gretchen Peters

Burnt Toast & Offerings

You have to watch the quiet ones. Sometimes the loudest truths are served with a whisper. Gretchen Peters, who has written some of country’s most intelligent songs of life’s complications, offers a hushed benediction for a woman emerging from the chilled-over remains of what is truly not enough to flower into full potential.- Holly Gleason / No Depression

Gretchen Peters

If Peters’ ’96 debut, The Secret of Life, had the answers, her edgier follow-up poses the questions, mostly about how to navigate rough emotional terrain. Full of surprises – “Eddie’s First Wife” has a randy lesbian at its center – Peters brings the pop sensibility of Sheryl Crow to meditations on Amelia Earhart and Picasso’s cat. Easy to see why she’s already captured the Brits. B+-Alanna Nash / Entertainment Weekly